While suitors often come and go in corporate auctions, it appears as if Bain and Silver Lake are the remaining bidders for a controling stake in the unit of China’s largest mobile phone equipment maker. Formal bids for the deal were due on Friday.

The unit was expected to be worth more than $3.5 billion when the auction started earlier this year. Though a firm may still pay a premium for the business, growing pressure on the hand set sector plus tumbling financial markets make it less likely buyers will want to pay up for the asset, sources say. (Reporting by Michael Flaherty, Editing by Lincoln Feast)